Flier block construction



June 12, 1934. M. J. MCHALE 1,962,693

FLIER BLOCK CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 27, 1933 liiiiiiiiiiliyv PatentedJune 12, 1934 FLIER BLOCK CONSTRUCTION Michael J. McHale, Scranton, Pa.

Application December 27, 1933, Serial No. 704,172

12 Claims.

My invention relates to flier blocks and more particularly to animproved anti-kink construction for flier blocks.

A conventional flier consists essentially of a body portion, a footmember adapted to fit into an aperture formed on the end of a bobbin andflier wires supported by the body of the block. The flier is associatedwith the bobbin from which the silk or other material is to be unwoundand is free to rotate on the bobbin spindle; the silk withdrawn from thebobbin is suitably tensioned and'provided with a twist before it iswound on a second or storage bobbin, preparatory to shipment or use infabricating machines.

The winding machine comprises a plurality of spindles having bobbinsmounted thereon, the bobbins upon which the silk is wound before it istwisted being below the line of bobbins which receive the silk after ithas been properly tensioned and twisted. When the winding machine stops,the flier due to its momentum, makes one to three revolutions after theupper and lower bobbins are at rest; this movement of the flier drawsadditional silk from the lower bobbin and since the upper bobbin is notrotating, it does not take up the silk, with the result that kinks areformed in the thread. If the kinks are allowed to go through after themachines are started up, a defect will appear in the goods made fromthis particular run of silk.

In order to remove the kinks, according to present practice, it isnecessary to break the threads and tie up the ends again before themachine is started. It will be appreciated that in the average silkmill, comprising fifteen thousand to twenty-five thousand spindles, thatconsiderable time is required by the operatives in breaking and tying upthe ends of the silk thread before all of the machines are in operation.

Formerly, with the exception of a break-down in the driving mechanism,the winding machines were only closed down once a week. Due to a recentchange in the working hours for employees of silk mills generally. ithas become necessary to shut down the machines more frequently, in someinstances, once every twenty-four hours. Since considerable time isrequired to effect the cutting and tying of the ends of the threads, theefficiency of operation and output of mills using the conventional flierblocks have been considerably reduced.

It is the purpose of the present invention to prevent kinks from formingin the silk as it is taken off the lower bobbin and wound on the upperone, thus eliminating the necessity of cutting and tying the ends of thethreads. This is accomplished by providing a flier block having a footconstructed and arranged to coact with a seat formed in the bobbinwhereby the flier rotates with the bobbin when the winding machine 0' isslowing down and just before rotation of the bobbin is stopped.

An object of my invention is to provide an improved fiier blockconstruction, adapted to prevent kinks from forming in the thread whenthe 5 winding machine stops.

Another object of my invention is to provide a flier block formed by thefoot member adapted to seat in a recess in the bobbin, the frictionalengagement between the foot and the recess acting as a brake to slowdown the rotation of the flier with respect to the bobbin.

Yet another object of my invention is to provide a flier block assemblywherein the bushing used to reclaim the bobbins, in which the spindleopening has become worn, may be used as a bearing surface or seat forthe flier block.

A further object of my invention is to provide a nonkink forming flierblock assembly wherein a seat member may be formed integral with thebobbin or as a separate element adapted. to be attached to a bobbin.

A still further object of my invention is to provide an improved threadtensioning and flier wire locking device whereby the tension placed uponthe thread, as it is being wound, may be varied.

In the drawing: I

Figure l is an elevational view partly in section showing my improvedflier block attached to a bobbin.

Fig. 2 is an elevational view showing a modiflcation of the block.

Fig. 3 is an elevational view partly in section showing a modified formof a bobbin.

Fig. 4 is a view along line 4 4 of Figure 3; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective View showing the relative positions of thebobbin on a winding machine.

Referring to the drawing and more particularly to Figure 1 thereof,there is shown a spindle 1 having a bobbin 2 mounted thereon. The bob- 10 bin is provided with a flange or cup member 3 adapted toseat in arecess formed in one end of the bobbin and is provided with an opening 4through which the foot of the flier block is inserted when the block isplaced in position on the spindle and associated with the bobbin.

The flier block comprises a body portion 5 having a foot member 6 and apair of flanges 7 and 8 forming a peripheral wire receiving groove 9adapted to receive a flier wire '10. The lower flange '7 is formed withrecesses adapted to receive the ends 11 of the combined flier wirelooking and tensioning device designated generally by numeral 12. Theupper flange 8 is formed with slots along the diameter thereof for thepurpose of receiving the vertical portions of the thread tensioningdevice and prevent it from tilting about its points of support in thelower flange 7. The bobbin 2 is formed with a seat member 13 which maybe bored out of the body of the block and is provided with a taperedportion 14. Foot member 6 of the flier block is also tapered and isadapted to seat in the recess formed in the bobbin. The arrangement ofthe slots and openings in the lower flange together with locking meansfor the flier wires, is fully disclosed in my application, Serial No.673,547, and the present invention relating to the novel flier blockstructure, is an improvement over the disclosure of the above mentionedapplication.

In the operation of the device, as the thread is unwound from the lowerbobbin and carried to the upper bobbin on a winding machine, the flierblock is rotated around spindle 1 and at the same time foot 6 is liftedfrom its seat 14 formed in the bobbin, the block being prevented frommoving away from the bobbin by means of the flange 3. When the windingmachine slows down and just before rotation of the bobbins is stopped,the flier block drops down so that the foot 6 fits into the seat and dueto the frictional engagement between the surfaces, the flier thenrotates with the bobbin 2. By means of this arrangement, when thewinding machine has stopped, additional thread is not withdrawn from thelower bobbin, for the reason that during the last two or threerevolutions of the bobbin, the flier block has been rotating with it.Since the bobbins are stopped at substantially the same time and theflier block is at rest with respect tothe lower bobbin, all of thethread which has been withdrawn is wound on the upper bobbin, before thewinding machine comes to rest and hence kinks are not formed in thesilk.

Referring to Figure 2, I have shown a modication of the arrangementshown in Figure 1, wherein the seat member 15 is formed of a separatepiece of material and adapted to be inserted into the bobbin. In thisarrangement, the material 15' may be of metal. wood, fiber, hard rubber,or other suitable material, and is adapted to fit into the openingprovided for the bobbin flange. As in Figure 1, the seat for the foot ofthe flier block is tapered as at 16, the top surface 1'7 of the seatmember being spaced from flange 18 formed on the foot. It will beunderstood, however, that flange 18 in normal operation of the device,does not contact with surface 1'? and is intended to just clear thesurface when the block is in its lowermost position.

Referring to Figure 3, I have shown an arrangement wherein a bushing 19may be formed with a seat 20 adapted to receive the foot of the flierblock. It is sometimes desirableto reclaim the bobbins after the openingwhich receives the spindle is worn too large for the spindle. It iscustomary to insert in the end of the bobbin a metallic bushing byboring out the opening and threading in or otherwise affixing a bushingto the end of the bobbin. In the present arrangement, bushing 19 isprovided with corrugations 21 adapted to thread into the body of theblock, the end of. the bushing being flared outwardly to form a seat forthe foot of the flier block.

grammatic arrangement of the bobbins showing their relative positions ona winding machine. The thread is unwound from the lower bobbin 22carried by the spindle 23, the thread 24' being suitably tensioned andprovided with a twist by means of the flier and flier wire lockingmeans. As the thread is unwound from bobbin 22, it is wound upon abobbin 25 driven by the winding machine mechanism. In this connection,it

will be noted that when the bobbins and flier are stoppedsimultaneously, additional thread is not drawn from the lower bobbin andhence kinks do not form between the flier and the upper bobbin.

Referring" to Figure l, it will be seen that the opening 4 formed in theflange 3 is oblong in shape, in order that the round foot 6 of the flierblock maybe readily inserted and held in position on the spindle.

With reference to the combined flier wire locking and thread tensioningdevice 12, it will be noted that the novel formation of this elementpermits of variation in the tension placed upon the thread as it isbeing wound upon a bobbin. The thread tensioning device comprisesvertical leg portions 26 terminating in offset portions 27 and ends 11,the ends being adapted to seat in recesses formed in lower flange '7.The upper portion of the thread tensioning device comprises a loopedportion formed by bending the leg portions 26 inwardly as at 2'8 andthen outwardly as at 29 forming two substantially V-shaped portions 30.The outwardly extending portions 29 are joined at the top, forming aclosed loop having a horizontal portion 31.

In the use of the thread tensioning device, thread 24 after passingthrough the eyelet formed in the flier wire arm, is received by one ofthe portions 30. By thus changing the direction of travel of the thread,it is tensioned before being wound upon the bobbin which is to receiveit. In event that greater tension is required the thread may be arrangedto pass through both V- portions. This is accomplished by merely passingthe thread through portion 39 to the right hand side of the flier blockshown in Fig. 1 and then bringing it around in the V-portion at the leftof the block.

It will be appreciated that various combinations and arrangements of thethread with re spect to the elements of the tensioning device will causea variable tension to be placed upon the thread during the windingprocess.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of myinvention, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself tothe precise details of construction herein set forth, by way ofillustrations, as it is apparent that many changes and variations may bemade therein, by those skilled in the art, without departing from thespirit of the invention, or exceeding the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A flier block assembly comprising a flier block having a centrallyapertured body portion having flanges formed thereon, said flangesdefining a peripheral flier wire receiving groove, a foot member formedon the body portion of the block, a bobbin including a head portion anda recess formed in said head portion, the foot member on the flier bodybeing adapted to frictionally engage with the recess in the bobbin headwhereby the flier block and bobbin rotate' as a unit during the finalinterval of their ro tation.

2. A flier block assembly comprising a centrally apertured body portionhaving flanges formed thereon, said flanges defining a peripheral flierwire receiving groove, a tapered foot member formed on the body portion,a bobbin, including a head portion and a conical shaped recess formed insaid head portion, the foot member being adapted to seat in said recesswhereby the bobbin and block rotate as a unit during an interval oftheir rotation.

3. A flier block assembly comprising a centrally apertured body portionhaving flanges formed thereon, said flanges defining a peripheral flierwire receiving groove, a tapered foot member formed on the body portion,a bobbin, including a head portion and a conical shaped recess formed insaid head portion, the foot member being adapted to frictionally engagethe conical seat whereby the flier block and bobbin rotate as a unitduring the final interval of their rotation.

4. A flier block assembly comprising a centrally apertured body portionhaving flanges formed thereon, said flanges defining a peripheral flierwire receiving groove, a foot member formed on the body portion of theblock, a bobbin, including a head portion having a recess formedtherein, and a bearing member for the flier foot seated in the recess,the foot member being adapted to frictionally engage with said bearingmember whereby the flier block and bobbin rotate as a unit during thefinal interval of their rotation.

5. A flier block assembly comprising a centrally apertured body portionhaving flanges formed thereon, said flanges defining a peripheral flierwire receiving groove, a tapered foot member formed on the body portionof the block, a bobbin, including a head portion having a recess formedtherein, and a conical shaped bearing member seated in said recess, thetapered foot member being adapted to seat in the conical bearing wherebythe bobbin and block rotate as a unit during an interval of theirrotation.

6. A flier block assembly comprising a centrally apertured body portionhaving flanges formed therein, said flanges defining a peripheral flierwire receiving groove, a foot member formed on the body portion, abobbin including a head portion having a recess formed therein, abushing in said recess forming a bearing for the foot member, said footmember being adapted to frictionally engage with the bearing during aninterval of its rotation.

'7. A flier block assembly comprising a centrally apertured body portionhaving flanges formed therein, said flanges defining a peripheral flierwire receiving groove, a foot member formed on the body portion, abobbin including a head portion having a recess formed therein, abushing in said recess, the bushing being expanded at one end thereof toform a seat for the flier foot, the foot member being adapted tofrictionally engage with the bushing whereby the flier block and bobbinrotate as a unit during the final interval of their rotation.

8. A flier block assembly comprising a centrally apertured body portionhaving flanges formed therein, said flanges defining a peripheral flierWire receiving groove, a tapered foot member formed on the body portion,a bobbin including a head portion having a recess formed therein, abushing in said recess, the bushing being expanded at one end thereof toform a conical shaped seat for the tapered foot member, the tapered footbeing adapted to frictionally engage with the conical seat whereby theflier block and bobbin rotate as a unit during the final interval oftheir rotation.

9. In a flier assembly for spinning machines, the combination of a flierblock comprising a cen- 'trally apertured body portion having flangesformed thereon, said flanges defining a peripheral flier wire receivinggroove, a slot in the block extending across the top and along adiameter thereof adapted to receive flier wire retaining means, a footmember formed on the body portion of the block, and a bobbin including ahead portion and a recess formed in said head portion, the flier footbeing adapted to frictionally engage with said recess formed in the headof the bobbin whereby the flier block and bobbin rotate as a unit duringthe final interval of their rotation.

10. In a flier assembly for spinning machines, the combination of aflier block comprising a centrally apertured body portion having flangesformed thereon, said flanges defining a peripheral flier wire receivinggroove, a slot in the block extending across the top and, along adiameter thereof adapted to receive flier wire retaining means, atapered foot member formed on the body portion, a bobbin including ahead portion and a conical shaped recess formed in said head portion,the foot member being adapted to seat in said recess whereby the bobbinand block rotate as a unit during an interval of their rotation.

11. In a flier assembly for spinning machines, the combination of aflier block comprising a centrally apertured body portion having flangesformed thereon, said flanges defining a peripheral flier wire receivinggroove, a slot in the block extending across the top and along adiameter thereof adapted to receive flier wire retaining means, atapered foot member formed on the body portion of the block, a bobbinincluding a head portion having a recess formed therein, and a conicalshaped bearing member seated in said recess, the tapered foot memberbeing adapted to seat in the conical bearing whereby the bobbin andblock rotate as a unit during an interval of their rotation.

12. In a flier assembly for spinning machines, the combination of aflier block comprising a centrally apertured body portion having flangesformed thereon, said flanges defining a periph-- eral flier wirereceiving groove, a slot in the block extending across the top and alonga diameter thereof adapted to receive flier wire retaining means, a footmember formed on the body portion, a bobbin including a head portionhaving a recess formed therein, and a bushing in said recess, thebushing being expanded at one end thereof to form a seat for the flierfoot, the foot member being adapted to frictionally engage with thebushing whereby the flier block and bobbin rotate as a unit during thefinal interval of their rotation.

MICHAEL J. McHALE.

